As readers, we constantly struggle to become better, more efficient, and to read as much as humanly possible. This can be challenging considering how much else is going on in our lives. We need to work full-time, take care of our homes and loved ones, and we also need to find ways to spend time for ourselves. Finding the right balance is never easy and we sometimes need to use every tool available at our disposal.
Since here at Basmo we are completely dedicated to helping you with everything reading-related, we tried some of these tools for readers to see what they’re all about. What are the best book reading tools and how can we use them to reach our maximum potential?
What are reading tools?
Reading tools are defined as methods or devices created with the purpose of either improving a reader’s performance or the reading experience. Whether we are talking about a reading strategy that improves comprehension or a device that makes reading easier on the eyes, they can both be defined as reading tools.
As a general rule, readers tools can be categorized as follows:
- Reading accessories: they tend to make the actual reading process more comfortable
- Reading strategies: they are specially designed to increase your speed, level of comprehension, and the amount of information you retain while reading
- Reading tracking apps like Basmo or reading-dedicated websites: their purpose is to either track your reading speed and the amount of reading you are doing or to help you find books you might like quicker.
There is no limit to how many tools you can use and how varied your selection should be. As long as you figure out a winning formula that helps your reading sessions to be more comfortable, enjoyable, and efficient, you should not refrain from using any of them.
Want to start reading more?
Try Basmo book tracker today!
Basmo can easily help you set and reach your reading early goals. It’s super easy to use and 100% free to download, so what have you got to lose?
Are reading tools important?
Well, that depends a lot on what your reading goals are and how much you want your reading habits or efficiency to improve. If you are a casual reader and you are perfectly happy with how much reading you are doing, you might not need any additional tools.
But if you are like us here at Basmo, constantly looking for ways to read more, better, and in more enjoyable ways, then reading tools are going to be an important part of your life. These tools for reading can have several benefits for you, including:
- Making your reading sessions more enjoyable
- Helping you read more comfortably
- Allowing you to avoid getting tired too quickly
- Helping you find your next book to read more quickly
- Motivating you to read more
- Improving your comprehension and retention levels
- Making your reading habits healthier
As you can see, reading tools have quite a varied number of ways they can help you become the best reader you can possibly be. Recognizing what is important to you and what you actually want to improve is going to considerably help you choose the right reading tools for your needs.
What are some of the best book reading tools?
Regardless of what your ultimate goal is, we are here to help you find the right tools for you. To make things simpler, we split the possible tools you might be needing into three separate categories depending on what they actually are and how they help.
Reading accessories
Reading accessories are designed to make your life easier and to make your reading sessions as enjoyable and comfortable as possible. Some of the most popular ones that we actually tested and made us wonder how we lived without them so far are:
Lay down reading glasses
Reading while lying down can turn out to be a lot less relaxing than you might think. Your eyes get tired quite quickly, your hands or back can become sore depending on how you hold the book, and you are quite likely to fall asleep before you actually finish the reading you’re supposed to do. Part of the problem can be solved by using special glasses designed to allow you to read while laying flat on your back. They have special lenses using a prism system that allows you to read a book while lying horizontally on your back without having to put any strain on your eyes or neck.
Reading pillow
The ideal reading position for when you are doing it in your bed is to sit upright, with your back rested on a pillow. Well, a regular pillow might do the trick, but not perfectly. Special reading pillows, also known as husband pillows, do a much better job. They allow you to sit in an ergonomically correct position, while also offering you lateral support. That way you put no strain on your back and you can sit comfortably for a longer time.
Noise-canceling headphones
Reading in a loud environment can be not only useless because you comprehend and retain almost nothing from what you read, but it can also be a quite frustrating experience. Noise-canceling headphones are a great solution in situations when you are unable to do your reading in your usual, calm, and quiet environment. They can help you switch off the rest of the world at the push of a button and they can allow you to focus on what is important to you at the moment.
Reading glasses with lighting
Light is extremely important in a reading session. With improper lighting, you can put unnecessary strain on your eyes, you can experience fatigue quite quickly, and your reading sessions can turn out to be less than satisfactory. In situations when turning on the light is not ideal (when your partner is sleeping next to you in bed for example), you can take advantage of the reading glasses with lighting. On top of being regular reading glasses, they also come with the added benefit of having built-in LEDs. They are generally bright enough for a reading session, but not as bright to annoy someone sleeping next to you.
White noise machine
Sometimes our daily lives are too stressful or tiring and we end up trying to read without the ability to actually disconnect from our negative thoughts. A white noise machine is a device that can help us shift our focus and fill the room with sounds that help us stay concentrated on the task at hand rather than our thoughts.
Give Your Reading Experience
An Extra Boost With Basmo
Track the books you read, monitor the time you spend reading and keep notes on your reading habits and how it makes you feel. You can set yourself targets for the time you spend reading and you can get notified whenever you’re behind on your reading time.
Reading apps
Reading tracking apps are amazing little wizards that can guide you through the process of becoming well-organized, efficient, and dedicated readers. Basmo, for example, comes packed with a series of features that are certainly going to help you tremendously.
Tracking reading sessions
Basmo tracks your reading sessions, making sure you will later be able to analyze your reading speed, the number of pages you read, or how long your average reading sessions are. Knowing your current performance gives you a great starting point for improvement.
Setting goals
Having clear goals for your reading habits can help you stay motivated to keep reading and keep progressing towards meeting your goals. With Basmo, you can choose to set a daily goal for the time you spend reading every day or to select a big-picture goal for the number of books you read throughout the year. Or both.
Scheduling reading sessions
Being an organized reader is probably one of the most underrated characteristics you should work on in order to achieve your maximum potential. Basmo encourages you to create a clear schedule for your reading sessions and helps you respect it. You can select the days of the week you want to schedule reading sessions, and also different times of day for each one. This way you can work around your regular schedule and make sure you never miss out on any of the reading you’ve planned.
Taking notes while reading
Whenever you are reading something that matters, you are probably going to feel the need to write down some of the most relevant aspects. With Basmo, you can easily do that while reading. Whenever a reading session is active, you can simply start typing your thoughts into the app and they will be automatically saved within the book you are reading. They can be edited and formatted in a number of ways, so you can keep them neat and tidy with ease.
Creating and editing reading lists
A TBR list is generally a must-have for any self-respecting reader. Our app encourages you to create as many reading lists as you see fit and personalize them according to your needs. They can be easily edited and modified and they can even update automatically as soon as you finish reading a certain title.
Ready for the world’s first AI Chatbot for books?
Start a chat with any book!
Get Basmo to experience the power of ChatGPT!
Book recommendation websites
Finding the right books to read can sometimes be quite challenging. A lot of time gets wasted between books usually, and that is as counterproductive as it is frustrating. Reader-dedicated platforms are usually a great solution for finding your next favorite book.
There is quite a variety of reading tools you can use to find out what you should be reading, including websites and apps. Goodreads is a good example and probably the most popular choice among readers everywhere.
This Amazon-powered platform dedicated to readers is the largest database of titles you are going to be able to find online, and by creating your own list of favorite titles, you help the algorithm make some recommendations. They are not always excellent, but you can also use Goodreads for its community. This social aspect of the platform refers to the fact that all users have the ability to share their thoughts about certain titles, give ratings and make their own recommendations.
If you join the discussion or even start following certain users who tend to review many titles, you have a great chance to find what you’re looking for or even to expand the area of your general search. You may find things you never knew you’d like.
Final thoughts
Using the right book reading tools can have a very positive impact on your reading habits and performance. With Basmo, everything will become not only easier but also more exciting and efficient. Give it a go.
Image by studiogstock on Freepik
